Bomb Scare Ends Rotterdam Final

UPI

Published: March 19, 1984

ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands, March 18—
A bomb scare forced the men's singles final between Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors to be called off here at a $250,000 Grand Prix tennis tournament.

Lendl, from Czechoslovakia, swept through the first set, 6-0, and had broken service in the first game of the second set when the police, reacting to an anonymous telephone call, ordered the evacuation of the Ahoy Sports Hall.

The caller, claiming to represent an anticapitalism movement, told the police that a bomb had been placed close to center court.

A search did not yield any suspicious articles, and spectators were allowed to return to their seats.

However, the crowd was then informed that Lendl and Connors would not be resuming their match. Wim Buitendijk, the organizer of the Grand Prix tournament, failed to persuade Lendl to stay and finish the match. He said Connors may have been persuaded to resume the game but ''Lendl was not prepared to take any risks.''

At Lendl's request, the prize money, $50,000 for the winner and $25,000 for the runner-up, is being locked in a vault until the match can be completed.